PAIUD.K — THE TITMICE. 



115 



Silln aculmla. 



l)i-own ; fniipcalod piiiiiarifs white. Bill stmit. Foiimlo with lilnck of lu'!«l };los.-<e(l with 

 iishy. Leiijrth iihout <j inchi's ; wiiifj aliout :i.7-'). 



IIab. United States nid Uiitish I'roviiiccs ; west to Iho Valley of the Mi.«.soiiri. 



TfATilTS. The coiriiion Wliite-liellied NiiMiatch ha.s an exteinletl (listrilm- 

 tion tlirougliout la-arly tlie wliole of Kasteni North Aiiieiicu, from the Athiu- 

 tic to the IJocky iMountaiiis. West of the great central plains it is replaced 

 by the var. andcnta. It ha.s not been 

 met with, so far as 1 tun aware, farther 

 north than Nova Scutiti. It is a resi- 

 dent of Eastern Maine, and is tpiite 

 common in the southern and western 

 portions of tlie same State. In jMa.ssa- 

 cinisetts it is rather coniiiion than abun- 

 dant, and more plentiful in the western 

 than in the eastern portio?\s of that 

 State. 



The habits of this and tlu! other species 

 of Nut'.atches jmrtake somewhat of those 

 of the smaller Woodpec^kers and of the 

 Titmice. Without the noisy and restless 

 activity of the latter, they seek their food 



in a similar manner, and not unfrecpiently do so in their company, moving up 

 or down the trunks and over or under the branches of trees, searching every 

 crack and crevice of the bark for insects, larvio, or eggs. Like the Woodpeck- 

 ers, they dig industriously into decayed brandies for the hidden grub, and like 

 both Woodjjeckei-s and Chickadees they industriously e.xcavate for themselves 

 a ])lace for their nests in the decayed trunks of forest trees. Their nest, how- 

 ever, is usually at a greater elevation, often some twenty or thirty feet from 

 the ground. The European Nutluitch is said to plaster up the entrance 

 to its nest, to contract its opening and lessen the diingers of unfriendly 

 intrusion. This habit has never been observed in any of the American 

 species. 



All our ornithological writers have noticed the assiduities of the male 

 liird to his sitting mate, and the attention with which he supplies her with 

 food. He kee])s ever in the vicinity of the nest, calls her from time 

 to time to come to the mouth of the hole to take her food, or else to 

 receive his endearments and caresses, and at the ajjprotich of danger 

 fearlessly intervenes to warn her of it. Wluni feeding together, the male 

 bird keeps up his peculiar nasfil cry of hfink-honk, rei)eating it from time 

 to time, as he moves around the trunk or over the branches. 



Their favorite food is insects, in every condition. With this, when abun- 

 dant, they seem content, and rarely wander from tlieir accustomed woods in 

 summer. In winter, when snow or ice covers the branches or closes against 

 them the trunks of trees, they seek the dwellings and out-houses for their 



